There is an… interesting story behind the creation of The Dreaming. It was born out of a mixture of 2 stories on this website; “TwinSide” and “Block 6” on Wirepop. “TwinSide”, ofcourse, was the successor to “Twins”. Both were submitted to TokyoPop - the second one on a whim - and when the verdict came out, I was told that they liked the art of TwinSide, but the story of Block 6. They also said they wanted something that would appeal to their target audience of teenage girls. So my then-editor suggested doing a story based on a haunted school, with art drawn like “TwinSide”.

… Well, to say I was caught off-guard is an understatement. However, when I gave it proper thought, I realised that there is potential behind it and something interesting can be made out of it. The Australian Bush and haunted schools also have a long and distinguished tradition in this country, and I decided I could embed some home-grown mythology into this story. And I don’t intend it to appeal solely to teenage girls either — I don’t remember ever having done anything aimed solely at a particular demographic. This story is aimed at… people who like my other work on this site, I suppose.

What is important is the story anyway, as always. This time I eschewed the “Block 6” element of gross-out blood and decided to concentrate on creating atmosphere; giving the story an air of dreamy mystery. As a result, I intend this to be more of a mystery with horror elements rather than a straight-out horror. And it has worked out for Volume 1. Unfortunately, some people seem to think it’s a horror story. Well, it isn’t, folks.

head mistress

Readers of my online manga here may recognise the two main characters, Amber and Jeanie, from a short story featured on this site called “Twins”. Yes. They used to be shopping-mad; now they go to a haunted school. They also looked alot more identical in the short story than they do now - but the changes are necessary to tell the girls apart. If you can’t get over it, I suggest you think of the girls as “actors”. It works for me.